Upgrading Transalp to Varadero

 

I'm thinking about chenging my ride from '96 Transalp
to '03 Varadero. Any spontanous  thought? Something
like "oh, man, don't do it", "you're going to regreet
your balls off" is fine but primarely something more
specific would be great. Own experience, anybody?

--
Vänligen
Konrad
---------------------------------------------------

Sleep - thing used by ineffective people
            as a substitute for coffee

Ambition - a poor excuse for not having
                 enough sence to be lazy
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Konrad Viltersten wrote:

As far as I know, the XL1000V Varadero wasn't imported into the USA.

But a sportbike with a slightly more powerful engine was imported. It was the
VTR1000 Super Hawk which was sold as a "Firestorm" in Europe.

The VTR1000 was fun to ride, but it was thirsty. When ridden with the joy
that it inspired, it only got 25 miles to the gallon, and was running out of
gas by
120 miles after filling up.

The 2003 Varadero has a slightly detuned engine and Honda's programmable fuel
injection to improve mileage.

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to discover how far you can go
on a
gallon of gasoline.

If I was in Europe with an adventure tourer and some time off, I would be
headed for Greece and Turkey.

Other adventurer tourers may get 50 or 60 miles to the gallon and that 6+
gallon gas tank will take them 300 miles.

But, if the Varadero only gets 35 miles to the gallon or less, you're going
to be
unhappy with the short range and fuel expense.

And, can you handle 93 horsepower with your limited riding experience?

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Albrecht via MotorcycleKB.com wrote/skrev/kaita/popisal/schreibt :


I've heard that too but according to the "one guy i know"
it's supposed to be a major difference for 2003+ models.
I myself can't estimate it, due to my limited knowledge.

What i do know is that my Transalp will drink around 8.9
liters per 100 kilometers (whatever that might be in
US-units). Where can one look up the corresponding
value for Varadero (both 2002- and 2003+)?


I'll be mainly (only?) ride close to towns and areas where
there are people, so getting to a provider of liquidified
dinosaurs in time won't be a problem. Plus, isn't that nice
to get off the bike after 100 km and strech your gear
shifting and rear breaking devices?

No bike is _SO_ comfortable that i want to sit on it for a
long time. Perhaps GW but that's out of my range
because of economic reason, limited experience, pure
animal fear etc.   :)


I don't know. I'm asking because of that ignorance.
Is it really _THAT_ huge difference compared to
Transalp? I was hoping that even though the bike
itself definitely is more powerful, perhaps it's still
doable to ride it if one's being careful...


Thanks for the input, by the way.

--
Vänligen
Konrad
---------------------------------------------------

Sleep - thing used by ineffective people
            as a substitute for coffee

Ambition - a poor excuse for not having
                 enough sence to be lazy
---------------------------------------------------

 


That really is a lot for the Transalp. Mine does about 6 liters to
100kms with a lot of city traffic and less than 5 liters on a steady
beat.

Even my Pan European had a better average than your transalp (about 6
liters on open roads).

    Mike

 

Konrad Viltersten wrote:


100/8.9 X 2.352 = 26.42 miles US per gallon. That's terrible mileage for such
a small engine. (1)


Google for road tests and comparisons. Also, find out what replacement tires
will cost you. You will go through off road tires frequently.


What? You're thinking about buying and adventurer tourer just to putt around
Gotesborg?

Talk to some BMW adventure tourers.

The Germanic model of motorcycle touring expressed by the motorcycle
magazines is that they ride as fast as they can on the autobahn to get to the
good roads in France, so in about two days they're enjoying Mediterranean or
Aegean beaches.

They wear their bathing suits under their leathers so they are always ready
for sun and fun. I saw a German rider and his girlfriend go into a monastery
at Meteora in Greece, wearing only their bathing suits. They came back out
very quickly.


100 km is only 62 miles. That's the kind of distance one might get on a
Ducati 900SS torture rack before surrendering to pain.

But touring riders will install a comfortable aftermarket seat on their
adventurer tourer and ride for 450 km at a time. They get off their
motorcycles only when they stop for gasoline if they are on a long tour.

Yeah, well, there is an endurance riding club here in America called the Iron
Butt Association and to get in, you have to ride 1000 miles (1609 kilometers)
in 24 hours. They ride everything you can imagine, from Yamaha YSR50's and
motorscooters to Gold Wings. They can't complete their Butt Burn 1000 if they
stop every 100 kilometers to massage their numb butts. (2)


An adventure tourer with that much power may be too much for you as a
beginner. The high center of gravity with a full tank of fuel, the long
suspension travel and all the steering movement you get as the suspension
compresses and extends may be more than you can handle.

And, the recommended front tire will probably only last about 5000 km, the
rubber is probably very soft.

I might as well mention the problem with fuel injection systems. They tend to
be jerky at small throttle openings, compared to carburetors. That's
something to watch out for if you're a beginner. Research as much as you can
before buying a fuel-injected Varadero.

Wealthy Europeans are crazy about their adventurer tourers. They got
interested when BMW was racing in the Dakar Rally. They don't much care about
the impracticality of 1000 to 1200cc adventure tourers.

I can imagine myself riding from northern Europe, taking the straight and
fast roads, down through France and Spain, taking the ferry from Gibraltar to
Tangiers and riding on down to Marrakech and Fez.

Morocco is lovely in the spring, green hills and red poppies, and when you
get to the walled red cities on the edge of the Sahara, you think you've
stepped back
in time a thousand years.

But I would want to ride a machine that got 17 to 21 km/liter while riding at
a moderate pace.

(1) My 123-horsepower four-cylinder FZR1000 only gets 100 km/9 liters when
I'm on a racetrack going 240 kph.

I once got 21 km/liter while obeying the 88 kph national speed limit
in Utah. That was the only Utah visit when I wasn't stopped for speeding.
Later on, I was riding my usual 145 kph.

(2) They have an invitational annual event where top riders ride about 11,000
miles (17699 km) in 11 days.

And they have a ride where they cross America from coast to coast in 50 hours.

The 50CC is about 4800 km.

I talked to an older Iron Butt rider named Ron Major about the 50cc. He
worked for a television station about two blocks from where I was living.

I wanted to know why he wanted to be out there, alone at night, riding 145
kph, risking death on dark roads with deer running across the highway.

He said something about how he just had to do it, that was his cup of tea. He
probably thought that if he had to explain why he did what he did, other
riders wouldn't understand it.

He was found alongside the road, after apparently suffering a heart attack.
His
Honda ST1100 was half a mile away. He died alone at night, as I predicted he
would.

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